This weekend is the one-year anniversary of the Camp Mystic flood.
The official report was released by the Texas Senate and House general investigating committees a couple of weeks ago. I've been reading and thinking about the lessons Camp Mystic can offer the rest of us. I've written a longer piece about it, posted on my site, called Learning from Camp Mystic: Six Lessons for Outdoor Programs.
I attended summer camp in East Texas as a kid. Like many of us, I have fond memories of summer trips backpacking and exploring the outdoors growing up. No doubt, these experiences were instrumental in shaping my path and a big part of why I do the work I do now.
Reading a hundred-page report on how twenty-seven young campers and counselors died at a Texas summer camp is heavy reading, but also necessary for anyone who plans and manages outdoor and off-campus programs.
In 2024, the Wilderness Climate Lab published a study on climate change and its impact on outdoor programs. More than 90% of the organizations we surveyed had revised their emergency plans for extreme weather in the year prior. 79% had experienced new impacts from storm flooding. If you haven't already, you can join the conversation via our LinkedIn group.
The Camp Mystic flood happened a year after our survey. In many ways, it is the event our respondents are preparing for.
The report is worth reading in full. In fact, I see it as a landmark event in our field, and it should be required reading for any program, risk management, or executive director.
If you don't have time for it, my blog post walks through six lessons relevant to any youth-serving organization or school:
Plan for the unprecedented
Pre-determine triggers to act
Give every adult a role
Give staff permission to act
Practice the plan
I'll come back to a couple of these lessons in future editions of this newsletter.
This week, though, the report itself deserves your attention, as well as a few moments for the families of campers and counselors who call their daughters “Heaven's 27.” The report thoughtfully includes a photo and paragraph about each one.
I'm curious what you think. Leave a comment with the things that stick out to you from this important case study.
Stu
P.S. The Wilderness Climate Lab will host a pre-conference session at this year's Wilderness Risk Management Conference this fall in Portland, OR. We're excited to facilitate a conversation about wildfires and AQI. We'll see you there!